Pigeon Point Council: Crime-fighting reminders, Night Out, more

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High atop the heights of northeastern West Seattle, signs like that help get the word out about the Pigeon Point Neighborhood Council‘s meetings – like the one we covered last night at Cooper School. The impending transition at that school was one of the topics – as was something a little further into the future, Night Out block parties (not that far away – August 4th is the date – and registration just opened) – and more immediate concerns about crime-fighting – plus the saga of the buried bunker! – read on for the highlights:

NIGHT OUT: Pigeon Point is the first group that’s brought up the popular block-party, neighbor-meeting, public-safety-awareness event this summer – they traditionally have quite a sizable street party (Pete Spalding shared the 2008 photo above, in which he’s shown with Southwest Precinct Capt. Joe Kessler), so no surprise. August 4th is the date and registration JUST opened on the SPD website; here’s the page to use if you want to register your block for permission to shut down a street and have a party.

CRIME CONCERNS: The saga of the dumped stroller (WSB report here) came up, as did the car-keying mentioned in comments on that story. It was observed that these types of crimes tend to happen “two or three blocks off the arterials.” Spalding, who’s on the Southwest Precinct Advisory Council in addition to other volunteer roles, reminded everyone to call 911 if they see anything suspicious (as police frequently reiterate). He also stressed the importance of filing a police report about any crime, recalling a series of car prowls earlier this year in which, while neighbors totaled incidents into double digits, police only received a handful of reports.

COOPER SCHOOL CHANGES: The dozen-plus meeting attendees spent some time talking about the big changes ahead for the school in which the group’s met for a long time — Cooper. Signs of the impending transition, with the Cooper Elementary “program” scheduled to close so that Pathfinder K-8 can move from the soon-to-be-re-closed Genesee Hill building, were all around, from remnants of the “closure celebration” on Sunday, to cafeteria walls that were bare instead of decorated with student work as seen last time we were there a month earlier. Spalding said he had met with Pathfinder principal David Dockendorf to discuss extending the agreement under which PPNC has its meetings at the school; new PPNC chair Andy Worline promised he’d arrange a meeting with Dockendorf soon too. Meantime, the Cooper legal challenge was discussed briefly, and it was noted that Cooper closure opponents will offer bus transportation to Friday morning’s hearing (WSB coverage here).

NEIGHBORHOOD PLAN UPDATE, DELRIDGE DISTRICT COUNCIL MEETINGS: Ron Angeles discussed both those meetings; just a few hours earlier, he had shared first word of the Neighborhood Plan check-in meeting that’s planned on July 28, and you can read the details here. The Delridge Neighborhoods District Council meeting is a lot sooner – one week from tomorrow – 7 pm at Youngstown Arts Center, and a highlight will be a city rep discussing the proposal to make it easier to build “backyard cottages,” formerly known as “mother-in-law units.”

DELRIDGE SKATEPARK: The latest developments were recapped by Spalding, who’s also on the Parks and Green Spaces Levy Oversight Committee that recently backed the Skatepark Advisory Committee‘s recommendation to transfer $250,000 from the once-proposed Myrtle Reservoir skatespot to the in-need-of-funding Delridge Skatepark plan. Spalding noted that final City Council approval is still needed, and said, “It’s going to be an awesome facility for our neighborhood.”

DELRIDGE PRODUCE COOPERATIVE: Ranette Iding from the DPC board updated the Pigeon Point group on the city grant received for a “mobile market,” which as she explained won’t actually sell produce, but will give away fruit while also enticing people to fill out surveys asking them what they want to see in their neighborhood. She said it’ll be at four locations, four weeks this summer, with many details yet to be worked out (as mentioned earlier, there’s a meeting tonight to work on the plan).

THE TALE OF THE BURIED BUNKER: Last but by no means least, a fascinating side note: Talk turned to an article in this month’s Pigeon Point Press newsletter (distributed by e-mail and door-to-door, but we’ve uploaded it for you here). It’s about an underground bunker that’s now buried beneath the Cooper School parking lot (don’t miss the historic photos on the back).

More information about the Pigeon Point Neighborhood Council is online at pigeonpoint.org.